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“REGARDING EFFORTS TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SUDAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1524 on July 18, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REGARDING EFFORTS TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN
SUDAN
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speech of
HON. FRANK R. WOLF
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker I rise today in support of H. Res. 194, a resolution condemning slavery and other gross violations of human rights that are occurring in Sudan.
I have been to Sudan four times since 1989. I have seen the conditions on the ground first-hand. Women and children continue to die daily from starvation and illness. According to the State Department Country Report on Human Rights, thousands of Dinka women and children have been abducted and sold into slavery, sent to labor camps, and have been forced to serve in the military. Nearly two million people have died and four million have been displaced as a result of the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
On November 4, 2002, the United Nations concluded that the dire human rights situation in Sudan had not significantly changed. Numerous human rights organizations, including Christian Solidarity International, Freedom House, and the American Anti-Slavery Group have all called for an end to slavery in Sudan. The House of Representatives has repeatedly denounced human rights abuses in Sudan.
The Government of Sudan and the SPLA are beginning to take positive steps toward reaching lasting peace and we are at a critical moment in the peace negotiations between the parties. The war in Sudan must end, but it must end in a just peace, a peace in which all of Sudan can share in its resources, where all Sudanese can worship freely, and in which all Sudanese are treated with respect and dignity. The people of Sudan have suffered for too long.
I urge this body to overwhelmingly pass this resolution and I call on the government of Sudan to abolish slavery and respect human rights.
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